Animals and Mushrooms Together

This image looks more like a painting or maybe a sculpture than a photo. Great lighting and a great composition. It is very serene and whimsical and a bit fantastical. Very interesting post processing effects that make for an appealing image. Thank you for entering the contest nice job!

Beautiful photo! Wins first place for many reasons. The colors are lovely and have very nice harmony. The technical difficulty of getting the entire mushroom, both mantis, and just the right amount of leaves in focus is very impressive. There is also a lovely story here that makes me wonder, are these mantis friends or foes? The one on top of the mushroom almost appears to be bending down to help the other up, but on the other hand maybe it's defending its territory? Makes for a very interesting photo that I want to sit and ponder for awhile. Wonderful job! Thank you for entering the contest!

This is a gorgeous mantis and wonderful composition. I love the contrasting colors the purple mantis against the green background. This mantis looks so alien and splendidly refined in this pose wonderful! Since this was contest was for the fungi and animals I would have liked to see the brown larger fungus on the stick just a bit more in focus, but otherwise fantastic image that I very much enjoyed seeing.

Beautiful photo. I love the bright green that is so lively and fresh. All the raindrops on the grass are a great touch. Then we have an adorable delicate little mushroom with the little show-off pair of beetles on top. Great job getting the focus perfect to make a beautiful composition in which my eye knows right where to go and is not distracted by excessive detail.

Great toxic looking mushroom with that neon green color. That caterpillar really stands out and is quite an interesting looking fella. Nice composition with the mushrooms going from high to low like a natural set of stairs. Nice job, thank you for entering the contest.

This is an amazing shot! These dragonflies look like they are plotting something atop this mushroom table. I love how the dragonflies stand out against the white background and how the white mushroom goes with the background so well. This photo has an elegant and modern look to it. It is not a typical dragonfly image and it is quite interesting and unique. Wonderful job thank you for entering the contest!

Such an unlikely shot it really stood out. I love that this most delicate mushroom is somehow able to hold up the weight of the little shield bug who is just looking out over lands like he owns the world! Great angle on the grass and the smaller mushroom on the left adds a nice bit of balance to the shot. The only critique is to remove the two dark circles of what appears to be lens dust to the left of the mushroom stalk and another above and slightly to the right of the small mushroom. But otherwise a great shot that is really fun and fits the brief really well. Thank you for entering the contest!

Wonderful interesting lighting and composition. I love the rain and the glowing mushroom and snail. Even though I can not identify what is creating the light source it just makes this image really stand out as a unique work of art with a bit of wonder. I would have liked to see the snail a bit more in focus, but otherwise a lovely image I really enjoyed.

Great little acrobatic snail here. The fact that you get him in focus in such an appealing position is very impressive and earns this image a top ten spot. I have tried many times to get shots of snails like this and they move surprisingly fast and botch the shot. The focus area on the mushroom below is also quite pleasing and looks just like a lovely net to land on after the high-flying show. Lovely image!

The way this photo is framed and the lovely lighting earned this shot a top ten position. Just seeing the underside of the mushroom was great idea that made for a unique and interesting image. The little fly peeping out is in just the right spot and angle to make this image stand out! The only slight thing to make this image better would be to clean up the red noise in the background on the right side and the line above it that looks like it may be a spider web? Otherwise great image and the focus area on the ground, mushroom and fly and all spot on!

Great image. I love the colors. The purples and pinks in the blurry background and foreground really enhance this image. The bright orange mushroom is quite stunning and the little fly or mosquito is quite a nice touch. This is a rather wonderful image, bright and happy and full of fun and wonder. Lovely.